Published: Friday, December 28, 2012 at 1:36 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, December 28, 2012 at 6:22 p.m.

SARASOTA - The three children slept in a seedy motel room Christmas night, their parents nowhere to be found, the bare mattress stained with urine and blood.

Sarasota police, tipped off by an anonymous phone call, opened the door of the room at the Seabreeze Inn about 11 p.m. and could not believe the scene — a sink clogged with cigarette butts, a toilet overflowing.

A homeless man whom the children had met the day before was keeping an eye on them. Police did not find their parents until the next day, when they arrested them both on neglect charges.

“Being an Iraq veteran in a third-world country, I've seen houses that were not even that bad over there,” said Officer Adam Arena, 26.

Arena and the other officers scrambled to do what they could for the children for Christmas.

No doubt scared by the men in uniform, the children — a girl, 10, and two boys, 6 and 7 — did not want to leave the motel at first.

The middle child cried and would not get into the police car.

“No matter what the conditions are, kids don't want to be away from their parents,” said Sgt. Demetri Konstantopoulos, the supervisor on duty.

The children climbed into a police car with a little coaxing.

They had not bathed in several days; the girl said they had not eaten in a while. Two were missing shoes, Konstantopoulos said.

The children warmed up to the officers over the next few hours while they waited for social workers in the police headquarters, playing dress-up with police hats and jackets, running around the station.

The children were also fascinated by the computer with a touch screen that Arena uses to type his reports.

“They had become comfortably very quickly,” Konstantopoulos said.

And they feasted on the policemen's leftover holiday dinner in a fifth-floor break room where there was some leftover ham and casseroles and pies.

“We gave the kids all the food they could handle,” Arena said. “They just exploded with energy. I think it was because of the Mountain Dew.”

Even though it was a holiday — most of the city still closed — the officers found an open convenience store and sprang for stuffed animals, shoes and socks for the children.

One officer, won over, made several trips to the store, returning each time with Cheetos or a bag of sour candies.

Police found the parents on Dec. 26.

Sarah and Bruce Sexton each face three charges of child neglect without great bodily harm. They are each held at the jail on a $15,000 bail and are scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 25 in Sarasota County Circuit Court.

Sarah Sexton had met the homeless man at the Salvation Army a day earlier and had offered him a place to stay for babysitting her children, police said.

During the police investigation, authorities learned the Sextons had rented the motel room since Oct. 29, when they arrived in Sarasota from Missouri.

Sarah Sexton, 31, was a known prostitute on North Tamiami Trail and had sold their food stamps to buy methamphetamine, according to a Sarasota police report.

Bruce Sexton Jr., 36, worked as a handyman to pay for his drug habit, the report also said.

The children were taken into custody by the Florida Department of Children and Families and placed together in a home.

Arena says his most lasting memory is “seeing those kids smile again.”

<p><em>SARASOTA</em> - The three children slept in a seedy motel room Christmas night, their parents nowhere to be found, the bare mattress stained with urine and blood.</p><p>Sarasota police, tipped off by an anonymous phone call, opened the door of the room at the Seabreeze Inn about 11 p.m. and could not believe the scene — a sink clogged with cigarette butts, a toilet overflowing.</p><p>A homeless man whom the children had met the day before was keeping an eye on them. Police did not find their parents until the next day, when they arrested them both on neglect charges.</p><p>“Being an Iraq veteran in a third-world country, I've seen houses that were not even that bad over there,” said Officer Adam Arena, 26.</p><p>Arena and the other officers scrambled to do what they could for the children for Christmas.</p><p>No doubt scared by the men in uniform, the children — a girl, 10, and two boys, 6 and 7 — did not want to leave the motel at first. </p><p>The middle child cried and would not get into the police car.</p><p>“No matter what the conditions are, kids don't want to be away from their parents,” said Sgt. Demetri Konstantopoulos, the supervisor on duty.</p><p>The children climbed into a police car with a little coaxing.</p><p>They had not bathed in several days; the girl said they had not eaten in a while. Two were missing shoes, Konstantopoulos said.</p><p>The children warmed up to the officers over the next few hours while they waited for social workers in the police headquarters, playing dress-up with police hats and jackets, running around the station.</p><p>The children were also fascinated by the computer with a touch screen that Arena uses to type his reports.</p><p>“They had become comfortably very quickly,” Konstantopoulos said. </p><p>And they feasted on the policemen's leftover holiday dinner in a fifth-floor break room where there was some leftover ham and casseroles and pies.</p><p>“We gave the kids all the food they could handle,” Arena said. “They just exploded with energy. I think it was because of the Mountain Dew.”</p><p>Even though it was a holiday — most of the city still closed — the officers found an open convenience store and sprang for stuffed animals, shoes and socks for the children.</p><p>One officer, won over, made several trips to the store, returning each time with Cheetos or a bag of sour candies.</p><p>Police found the parents on Dec. 26.</p><p>Sarah and Bruce Sexton each face three charges of child neglect without great bodily harm. They are each held at the jail on a $15,000 bail and are scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 25 in Sarasota County Circuit Court.</p><p>Sarah Sexton had met the homeless man at the Salvation Army a day earlier and had offered him a place to stay for babysitting her children, police said.</p><p>During the police investigation, authorities learned the Sextons had rented the motel room since Oct. 29, when they arrived in Sarasota from Missouri.</p><p>Sarah Sexton, 31, was a known prostitute on North Tamiami Trail and had sold their food stamps to buy methamphetamine, according to a Sarasota police report.</p><p>Bruce Sexton Jr., 36, worked as a handyman to pay for his drug habit, the report also said.</p><p>The children were taken into custody by the Florida Department of Children and Families and placed together in a home.</p><p>Arena says his most lasting memory is “seeing those kids smile again.”</p>